IB Resources

We compiled all the resources we create for International Baccalaureate students on this page. You can find study tips, wall planners for the academic year, interviews with our IB tutors, and video series on every aspect of the International Baccalaureate.

Cambridge IGCSE Subject Briefs: History

Cambridge IGCSE Subject Briefs: History. This subject brief covers the History syllabus.

The Cambridge IGCSE History Course is situated in modern history, looking at some of the major international issues of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries including the First World War, the Communist Revolutions in both China and Russia, and the civil rights movement in the USA. The course aims to place emphasis on historical knowledge, the use of historical evidence, and on the skills required for historical research. Students are taught to appreciate multiple forms of historical analysis – such as cause and effect, continuity and change and similarity and difference. Broadly, the course aims to encourage students to have an international understanding of different contemporaneous historical events, encouraging the pursuit of personal interest in the subject.

Topics covered:

You can take one of two routes depending on your school.

Route

Topic

Overview

A

The 19th century: The Development of Modern Nation States, 1848–1914

Section A: Unification of Italy and Germany; Civil War in the US; Imperialism and the European Empire; The First World War

For more information on each topic area, check out the Cambridge syllabus.

Assessment and Grading:

Depending on the curriculum you choose to follow, you will sit three out of four exam papers. All candidates take paper 1 and 2, and schools will choose if you are to take paper 3 (coursework option) or paper 4 (alternative to coursework). Again, check the syllabus for specific information on each paper, but you can see the main structure of each exam below:

Paper 1

Time

2 hours

Number of marks

60

Percentage of total grade

40%

Type of questions

Structured essay responses; 2 from section A and 1 from section B

Paper 2

Time

2 hours

Number of marks

50

Percentage of total grade

33%

Type of questions

Six questions on one prescribed topic taken from Section A

Paper 3: Coursework

Time

Number of marks

40

Percentage of total grade

27%

Type of questions

Extended writing based on a Depth Study from the syllabus or from your school